Tom,
As far as I'm concerned, there is no better way than picking them by hand.
By orders of magnitude.  In non-limestone areas where you have to gather
more leaf litter to get the same (if possible) results, this is a royal
pain.  Perhaps this is the time to float. Ken Emberton and Tim Pearce used
this method extensively in Madagascar.  Perhaps Tim will respond.  Where
diversity and definitely density is low this method can be used, but then
again, if you only get one specimen of a certain taxon and it's aperture is
filled with sediment it will sink.  Maybe the best thing to do is float off
the empty shells and floating leaves (which are discarded), but save the
sediment in the bottom of the container as well.  This can be scanned under
a microscope.  Cliff Coney used a Xylene method discussed in a paper in
Malacological Review in the 1980's (I think).  Sounds nasty to me.  I just
never found a safer way to get the small stuff than to take the time to
pick through it.  The pay-off is usually worth it, but I have spent hours
on samples many times and gotten only a few specimens.  It's the nature of
the beast.  Beats the Hell out of injecting herps with formalin.
 
Hugs,
 
Kurt
 
 
At 08:16 AM 7/24/98 -0400, you wrote:
>I know there was a thread some time ago on this topic, but I can't find it.
>Could someone email me the procedure for floating micro snails out of leaf
>litter? Or some better way than picking?
>
>
>
>*  G Thomas Watters               *
>*  Ohio Biological Survey &       *
>*  Aquatic Ecology Laboratory     *
>*  Ohio State University          *
>*  1315 Kinnear Rd.               *
>*  Columbus, OH 43212 USA         *
>*  v:614-292-6170 f:614-292-0181  *
>
>"The world is my oyster, except for months with an "R" in them" - Firesign
>Theater
>
>"A paranoid is a man who knows a little of what's going on" - William
Burroughs
>